2close
22nd Aug 2011, 08:22
I think Tom Dunn's comments in August 2011 edition of Flight Training News, when commenting on why GA (and the UK flight training industry) is a very difficult sector to operate in, should not go unnoticed:
".....the industry operates in the dark ages (and is happy to do so). It is administered, regulated and managed by well meaning but inefficient people who wouldn't be in employment if they had to survive in the real commercial world."
I wonder which organistation(s) he is referring to...........no, not really, it is blatantly obvious!
Well said, Tom! :ok:
No RYR for me
22nd Aug 2011, 08:28
May I add the following comments from David Learmount
This time BA is not laying out a penny toward the trainees' courses in its Future Pilot Programme, but it will guarantee their loans for training, which means they will definitely be able to get finance. Glover says that, since the credit crunch, only rich students have been able to raise finance, so the airlines have been fishing in a small pond. This move widens the field.
Of course the risk to BA of guaranteeing a loan is practically zero, because by the time the airline provides the guarantee the student will have gone through aptitude tests and begun the course, and the flying training organisation (FTO) can tell pretty early on which trainees are the right stuff and which will struggle.
BA also requires the student to pay for his/her own type rating on the aircraft s/he will fly in service, and does not pay the trainee during it. In Glover's words, that cost is "part of the training package" for which the finance is raised. But, he says, BA's type rating is charged at cost, and as soon as the pilot successfully completes it, the pay cheque arrives.
While BA's offer doesn't exactly sound like a testament to its belief in investing in its future employees, it's a better deal than the shoddy way that Ryanair and Easyjet recruit. They flaunt the prospect of a job, but it's not a promise; the FTO helps the student find finance, the student pays for the type rating at a commercial (rather than cost) rate, then the recruit works the line unpaid until line acceptance checks are complete. If flying's slow, that can be six months or more.
It can't be that bad: BA is recruiting again - Learmount (http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/learmount/2011/08/it-cant-be-that-bad-ba-is-recr.html)
JamesT73J
22nd Aug 2011, 08:29
Fairly meaningless words without elaboration, though.
If it was a commercially run organisation don't for a minute think this would automatically benefit the industry.